Googol is a large number, which is the number 10 to the 100th power, or one followed by hundred zeros.
It sounds like it is the largest number in the world, but it is not. The largest number is called the googolplex,
in which the number is 10 to the power of googol.
If the number “googol” is written out, it would look like this:
The number doesn’t actually have particular significance in mathematics.
However, it is useful when comparing with other very large quantities and is used sometimes in teaching mathematics.
Facts About Google
The googol is approximately equal to the factorial of 70 (70!).
70! : about 1.198 googol
10 to the power of 100.0784
1.19785717 × 10^100
It seems like the number is a prime number; however, the googol can be divided by and only by 1, 2, 5, and itself.
The number googol sounds like the site “Google”. People might think that the number googol is named after “Google”,
but in reality, the number googol was named before Google, in 1938, and Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google’s
founders, named the site after googol.
Googol was created back in 1920s by Edward Kasner and his nine-year-old nephew, Milton Sirotta. Edward Kasner created and used
this number, one followed by hundred zeros, to illustrate the difference between an unimaginably large number
and infinity, but could not think of the name. So he asked his nephew about the name of this number and his nephew
came up with this silly name, “Googol”.
Google
What is a "Google"?
Googol is a large number, which is the number 10 to the 100th power, or one followed by hundred zeros.
It sounds like it is the largest number in the world, but it is not. The largest number is called the googolplex,
in which the number is 10 to the power of googol.
If the number “googol” is written out, it would look like this:
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
The number doesn’t actually have particular significance in mathematics.
However, it is useful when comparing with other very large quantities and is used sometimes in teaching mathematics.
Facts About Google
The googol is approximately equal to the factorial of 70 (70!).
70! : about 1.198 googol
10 to the power of 100.0784
1.19785717 × 10^100
It seems like the number is a prime number; however, the googol can be divided by and only by 1, 2, 5, and itself.
The number before googol would be the followings:
ten, hundred, thousand, millions, billions, trillions, then
quadrillion, quintillion,
sextillion, septillion,
octillion, nonillion,
decillion, undecillion,
duodecillion,tredecillion,
quattuordecillion, quindecillion,
sexdecillion, septendecillion,
octodecillion, novemdecillion.
How did Google Get It's Name "Google"?
The number googol sounds like the site “Google”. People might think that the number googol is named after “Google”,
but in reality, the number googol was named before Google, in 1938, and Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google’s
founders, named the site after googol.
Googol was created back in 1920s by Edward Kasner and his nine-year-old nephew, Milton Sirotta. Edward Kasner created and used
this number, one followed by hundred zeros, to illustrate the difference between an unimaginably large number
and infinity, but could not think of the name. So he asked his nephew about the name of this number and his nephew
came up with this silly name, “Googol”.
Comic Relating to Google
Video About Google
URL: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCzwI5fHrYg>
Works Cited
Information
"Google." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 13, January 2010. Web. 15, January 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googol>
"Five Cool Things to Know About Numbers". Scienceray. 1, November 2007. Web. 15, January 2010. <http://scienceray.com/mathematics/mathematical-theory/five-cool-things-to-know-about-numbers/>
Photo
Photograph. "10 to the 100th" ideas for Google. Benetton Talk. 26, September 2008. Web. 15, January 2010 <http://www.benettontalk.com/2008/09/>
Comic
Photograph. Did You Know... Backreaction. November 2006. Web. 15, January 2010. <http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html>
Video
"What's a Google?" Youtube. Web. 15, January 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCzwI5fHrYg>